Neil Savage

Full Stack UX Web Developer

Dog Bed Made From Reclaimed Oak Whiskey Barrel

About a year ago, I picked up an old oak whiskey barrel from Heavy Seas Brewery for $50. My intentions at first were to make a side table out of it, but when I saw it in person, it was bigger than I expected. The next idea I had was to transform the barrel into a dog bed for my corgi, Arthur. Since the barrel was very long, this would accommodate his loaf-of-bread figure very well. Here’s how I went about building the dog bed:

Finished Product

The barrel I picked up from a brewery for $50 - Arthur is skeptical

I drilled some holes to keep the metal rings in place when I cut the rings so that they would stay in place and the barrel would hold it's shape.

Securing the rings so when I cut the barrel, the rings stay in place.

Line to cut into halves so I can possibly use the barrel for 2 beds. I lined up a place where the slats were already cut so I didn't have to cut down the sides, only the rings.

After cutting the rings with a jig saw, the rings stayed in place because of the added screws on each barrel half.

Split into two, used ratchet straps to secure the barrel.

Sanded all pieces down to remove the smell and so that I can apply a stain later on. I decided to undo the barrel because I needed to sand the pieces. Unfortunately I forgot to number them so I lost the order they went back together in.

Glued the end pieces together since they were coming apart. Used another ratchet strap for this because it was a weird angle.

Test fit the barrel back together before the glue. Originally I forgot to label the slats so I needed to re-piece them back together. This definitely was very time consuming.

Made sure to not mix up the panels this time so I labeled them before gluing.

Glued the end pieces together with wood glue and clamped with the ratchet straps while it dried. This took patience to slowly ratchet each side evenly to the slats fell into place. I also used a rubber mallet to push some of the slats in place when it got tighter.

Clamped to start working on the ends, this is a view of the barrel flipped over. The glue didn't hold very well so I decided it would need some screws on the ends.

Added 2 3/4" wood screws to hold end pieces together and add reinforcement to the ends. I took a ratchet strap off one end while I drilled the wood screws in, then repeated on the other end.

After cleaning with steel wool and soap to remove rust and grime. Prepped for spray paint.

Spray painted the rings using a brass finish. Looking back, I would have drilled the holes first, then spray painted.

Lined up the ring, spaced out 6 even holes to add 2 1/2" bolts - about 6 inches.. I originally was going to spray paint the bolts too, but I ended up liking this result. I made sure the bolt wouldn't stick out too far on the inside - just enough to add the nut.

All rings attached and ready to cut the front of the barrel. I also used an angle grinder to cut off any metal edges sticking up from the rings.

Rough outline for the front opening. I lined this up with one of the slats so I wouldn't have to cut so much. I used a jigsaw to cut the wood and metal rings.

Top after cutting front opening and before the stain. Needed to sand down the rough edges a bit.

Top before stain, inside view.

Angled edge on one of the feet using a 2x4 for a little more detail and to make sure the surface was flat for the barrel to sit on. I didn't have angle saw so I just used a circular sander. This didn't take long since the wood was soft.

Based pieces before the cut. I used the barrel to trace the curves as a rough outline. I figured I'd have to sand down the curves later.

Close up of one of the curved pieces before cutting with the jig saw.

Finished feet. Had to sand down the curved pieces so that the barrel sat level. Took a bit of trial and error. Spray painted with the same brass finish.